


Looking Over to the Other Side

by Mr_K_chan



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 08:24:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3283589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_K_chan/pseuds/Mr_K_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Souji finds the time to deliberate with  himself about the important things in the most unusual manner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking Over to the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bellmare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellmare/gifts).



> For bellmare, who has been most kind to let me expound at her the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea series. Unbeta'd. First time posting. Wao.

A month after he lost her, he found himself.

Souji thinks to himself that he can be forgiven for thinking it was all just a dream.

Sitting across him in this tiny café table was himself, his hands curled around a delicate cup of coffee. He finds himself staring at it. Bone porcelain, white, with gold leaf lining along the rim. The coffee itself smells divine.

"When I imagined meeting myself, I thought it would've been something like the Shadow part of my heart, not an alternate me from a parallel universe."

He startles, baffled as he looks up to stare at the man who wears his face. The other only lifts the cup to his lips, taking a sip. Grey eyes meet over an awkward silence.

"…Same here, I suppose," He finds himself saying. For all the charm & charisma & bravery he allegedly has, he is surprised that it does nothing for him at crucial moments.

He supposes Social Links do nothing for you when it comes to social interactions with yourself.

"So…how was he…over on your side?" This other Souji asks, putting his cup down on his saucer. He only blinks back. "He?"

"Yeah. That guy," his other self gestures vaguely. "The one who came & went."

Oh.

_Oh._

…Well, he supposes complexes are inheritable. Where was Kanji when you needed him?

"…She was okay," He finally answered after clearing his throat. The other Souji raised his eyebrows, understanding flashing in his grey eyes. "…Oh."

It took roughly fifteen minutes afterwards to talk about them. He spoke of her & her brown hair & red eyes & her bright personality. The other spoke of blue hair & blue eyes & a calm bordering on lethargy. He muses over this.

"…I suppose this answers the question about Schrödinger's cat, huh?" He finally says lamely, the other Souji laughing into his cup at the joke shared between them. 

The tension between them popped like a soap bubble, & the world around them finally came into focus.

The two of them settled down after that, discussing about the things that had happened in the past year. About the team, school, Social Links. The investigation. The TV world. The inhabitants of that limousine endlessly moving forward towards an unknown destination.

Igor.

Margaret.

Theodore.

Elizabeth.

And them.

Souji takes a shaky breath, finally reaching out for his own cup of coffee. It had gone lukewarm, & the sediment had settled at the bottom. He takes a sip anyway just to calm his nerves. The taste of it was cloying on his tongue.

"…I never understood why he had to leave."

He sighs, putting down his cup. "Me neither, but can you honestly think you can stop them when they've put their minds to it?"

"I suppose you're right," He laughs, nodding sagely. "I suppose you can call them 'free spirits'."

Both of them found themselves talking about them more. They talked about the little differences, like his love for music & his habit of nodding off at inopportune places. They talked about her odd collection of weaponry & her predilection for peppy speech. They also talked about the big things, like his fondness for eating in order to fill up a hollow void in his soul & her longing to remember something just out of her reach. The more they talked, the more Souji realizes they barely knew them at all despite all that has happened.

"…There is so much we have uncovered, yet…"

His other self nods, sighing. "It does break my heart to know that we have discovered so little. Although, it's not so strange, is it?"

Souji bites his lip, looking away. He has learned to count his blessings over the course of the year, & every little good thing felt like a drop of water on a hot stove; it wasn't enough to satisfy him & his thirst to reach out around him.

"…I don't think we are meant to understand," He finally says after a period of silence, contemplating the dregs in his cup & remembers fortunes written in the patterns of tea leaves at the bottom of a cup & the shuffle of cards. He thinks of the whispers of fate left in weave of a spider's web & the alignment of the stars & comes to a painful realization. "In the end, it was both by coincidence & fate that we met them."

He dreads that part of the infinite multiverse wherein they never crossed paths. The look in the other's eyes hint at similar thoughts.

"…Better to have loved than never at all, right?" He says, getting up with a newfound determination. The other follows, meeting his eyes. He feels that both of them have arrived at the same conclusion.

"It's about time to leave the box. Are you ready?"

"I am," He says with a steady voice. "Staying here to chat is nice, but there are things that need finding." The other nods at him with silent approval. "You're right. We should go. But before that, if one of us finds them…"

"Yeah, we tell the other. You're me; that shouldn't be too hard." He says with a laugh. "…I'll see you at the other side."

"I'll be waiting," The other says, & then he was left alone with an empty table & the cold remains of their coffee.

Souji sighs deeply, reaches for his glasses & continues to look forward to the truth.


End file.
